A police constable was killed with an axe by his colleague after a heated argument in the police barrack of the Ghatshila sub-jail in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district late on Monday night.

The constable who died on the spot has been identified as Dharmendra Singh (52) while the accused has been identified as Manish Kumar (35). Another constable who had tried to prevent Manish from attacking Dharmendra, has also sustained head injuries and has been referred to MGM Hospital in Jamshedpur from Ghatshila sub-divisional hospital on Tuesday morning.

Sources in the Ghatshila sub-jail said that the three constables, all from Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP-7) used to stay in the same barrack. At around 11 pm there were heated exchanges between the two constables on some issues at which Manish picked up an axe lying in the barrack and attacked Dharmendra.

“The police constable were under the influence of liquor and there might have been an argument over sharing of money collected from those coming to meet undertrials lodged at the jail which led to the incident. Things will be cleared after the interrogation of the injured constable,” said a senior police official.

Jamshedpur city SP Subhash Chandra Jat who is also the acting East Singhbhum rural SP, reached the Ghatshila sub-jail to start a probe.

“We are investigating the incident and necessary action will be taken as per law against the accused,” said Jat.